The Usual Crowd

I must say, I'm enjoying this early stage of winter. The cold air is refreshing and I rather enjoy the productive exercise of clearing snow from my smallish driveway. On very cold days, the snow squeaks pleasingly underfoot. Also, I take pleasure in the feeder birds, the rabbits and reading tracks in the snow. The prints (or lack thereof) tell me that the raccoons and skunks are spending more time in their dens and that every few days a fox trots by. Sometimes I see two rabbits of about equal size, peacefully sharing a feeder together.  They especially enjoy the occasional peanut butter treat. I may have overdone it here with the bunny pics, but they are just so irresistibly cute!

Peter or Petra Cotton Tail and I focus on each other.

No sign of danger from the road.

All looks clear from the backyard.

It's safe to chow down.

Ellie Mae enjoys the live theatre from her window seat.

 
My little screech owl is now using the boxes I made for winter roosting and for storing prey items safely away from crows, etc. It's fun to think that while I have my pantry, it also keeps a larder.

The Eastern Screech Owl has resumed winter roosting in it's rustic old box.

Bluejays feel duty-bound to report it's whereabouts.

So far, only the usual crowd has shown up at my feeders. There is still plenty of natural forage about. As winter progresses, I expect surprise bird species to appear and always expect the unexpected. No doubt my yard must compete with those of bird loving neighbours who also keep well-stocked feeders.

The usual crowd of gold finches feeding near my kitchen window.

Ellie Mae reminded me of an arctic fox as she lay curled, nose to tail.

Bunny Buffet

Eastern Ontario is bitterly cold these days. And with extreme cold comes an increased need for calories. A wild rabbit is making use of my backyard's many hiding places as well as the nourishment from the black oil seed that I put out for the birds.

Yesterday, in addition to more sunflower seeds, I bought a small bag of rabbit pellets from the local livestock feed store. I've gotten rather attached to my cotton-tail neighbour and wanted to give it a special treat.

To keep the birds from interfering, I waited until dusk and then put out portions of sunflower seeds, rabbit pellets and peanuts. Soon bunny arrived at the buffet. It completely ignored the commercial rabbit pellets and the peanuts. For about fifteen minutes it munched on the sunflower seeds and then hopped over to where I had put carrot slices and ate a few of those. At dawn this morning, the pile of sunflower seeds had been reduced but the other two courses had been shunned. As bluejays became active, the peanuts soon vanished! The pellets remain untouched.

Bugs Bunny may love carrots, but this Cotton-tail merely finds them okay.

What stations do you pick up with those alert rabbit ears?

Rabbit pellets and peanuts are shunned by this picky diner.

Is everything to your satisfaction here, Sir or Madame?

Those peanuts really hit the spot! May I have some more please?

Even when my Eastern Screech Owl is hidden within a roost box during the day, I have reliable informants that let me know when it is in residence.

A White-Breasted Nuthatch announces that an owl hides within.

When the coast is clear, the owl appears and squints through partly closed eyes.

This morning's thermometer reading. Not exactly balmy, is it?

Hand-knitted by a skilled and generous cousin, these wool-blend socks are pure luxury!!